Christmas Concert Ruminations Music Education by Joel Wagner - December 20, 2008July 1, 20104 My Christmas concert came and went. No, I don't have a "winter concert" or "holiday concert." We don't play winter music at the concert. We don't play Easter or Halloween or Arbor Day music at the concert. We play Christmas music. So it's a Christmas concert. Why is it so difficult for people to understand that concept? Why are so many people scared of offending people that they let fear dominate their lives? My concerts used to be offensive, but that was because my bands didn't know how to play. Now, they sound pretty good, and all that stuff. We have fun. We perform both secular and sacred music. Of course, none of them have words, so there is really
Just How Important Is Excellence? Personal by Joel Wagner - December 13, 2008July 1, 201011 I love competition. I thrive on competition. I love being able to get a group of kids to create a powerfully musical performance. These are tremendous things. But I have come to realize that this is not the most important thing we can do. If we lose sight of why we are in education and focus solely on winning (having the most kids pass TAKS, getting more kids in the all region choir, having an undefeated volleyball season, or whatever), we miss out on an opportunity for some of the greatest education we can provide. As a band director, I struggle to ensure that my pursuit of musical excellence does not overtake my desire to provide a high quality education
Overcoming Stress In A Stress-Filled Season Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - December 19, 2007June 16, 20163 In this article, I’ll revisit 10 of my 25 Tips For Less Stress that I have found to be most helpful for me over the last two weeks or exponentially heightened stress. Christmas is coming, and with is seems to be incredible stress for a lot of people. Perhaps it’s because I am not married and have no children, but Christmastime has never brought a lot of stress into my life by itself. Health concerns have, however, brought about some immense stress into my life a couple of times in December. My college had a two semester student teaching process (one semester of extended observation, and one semester of down and dirty residency). I was fortunate enough to be able to conduct a
One of THOSE Days Personal by Joel Wagner - December 14, 2007May 30, 20164 This may well be the first time I have written about my teaching life without really setting out a solution or providing much helpful information. Let me know what you think. Last Friday, the other band director I work with had a mild stroke. He is recovering and is at home resting now. The doctors told him to not return to work for six weeks. As you might imagine, Christmas is a terrible time for band directors to be out like this. I got to take his band on a Christmas Tour on Thursday, and my band today. We have to make arrangements with other band directors to come over from other campuses to cover the classes that are here and need
Finding Excellent Educators To Emulate General by Joel Wagner - June 5, 2007July 5, 20102 As my fifth year of teaching came to a close, I began thinking back on my teaching career. When I student taught, I had wonderful teachers to work with. I got to conduct a piece on the Christmas concert (in the semester I was supposed to be observing), and even got to fully rehearse one piece for the spring trip. That's not too common these days, from what I have gathered. So in that sense, I have been surrounded by great educators from the beginning. As teachers, we really need to consciously endeavor to surround ourselves with great educators. These can come in various ways, some of which are not what you might expect. The most obvious place Whatever